System and method for managing mobile communications

ABSTRACT

A device to automatically provide differing information levels according to a predetermined social hierarchy includes a memory and a processor. The memory stores social templates corresponding to unique social signatures and being selectable to provide, for each level of the predetermined social hierarchy, a corresponding differing amount of information to each member of the predetermined social hierarchy and/or a social networking service. The processor receives sensor data from a sensor set which detects sensor data related to an environment of a communication device, creates a detected social signature from the received sensor data, determines which of the social signatures of the social templates has the greatest correspondence with the created social signature, retrieves from the memory the determined one social template having the greatest correspondence, and provides only as much information as allowed in the retrieved social template.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/646,158, filed Oct. 5, 2012, currently pending, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/891,158, filed Sep.28, 2010 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,522. The disclosures of bothdocuments are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Aspects of the invention relate to automatically determining if anincoming communication is interruptive, and more particularly to theclassification of a person's current actions such that selected callerscan automatically or manually gauge the intrusiveness of a communicationrequest.

2. Description of the Related Art

The development of pervasive communication technologies has delivereddirect access to mobile device users worldwide. While access has givenusers the convenience of communication at all times, this convenience inmany cases is a burden as callers can inadvertently interrupt otheractivities which socially take precedence. One exemplary example is aphone ringing in the middle of a conversation—socially a person wouldnever interrupt another conversation unless the matter was extremelyurgent. The fact that communication requests cannot be sociallyintegrated has made the pervasiveness of communication a burden and hasled to ignoring of calls (urgent or not) as well as allowing remotecommunications to take precedence over local communications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, a device to automaticallyprovide differing levels of information according to a predeterminedsocial hierarchy includes a memory which stores social templates, eachsocial template corresponding to a social signature; and a processorwhich receives sensor data received from a sensor set which detectssensor data related to an environment of a communication device, createsa detected social signature from the received sensor data, determineswhich of social templates has the greatest correspondence with thecreated social signature, retrieves from the memory the determinedsocial template having the greatest correspondence, and provides to atleast one member of the predetermined social hierarchy only as muchinformation as allowed under the social hierarchy based on the retrievedsocial template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor data comprises alocation of the communication device; a movement of the communicationdevice; and user social statistics indicating a pattern of interactionbetween the user of the communication device and the environment of thecommunication device, and the processor compares the location with mapdata to determine a map location of the communication device, andcreates the detected social signature to include information on the maplocation of the communication device, the movement being experienced bythe communication device, and the environment of the communicationdevice.

According to an aspect of the invention, the levels of the socialhierarchy of the related social template include a first socialhierarchy level which provides one level of information as selected inthe retrieved social template, a second social hierarchy level whichprovides another level of information as selected in the retrievedsocial template, and a third social hierarchy level which providesfurther information as selected in the retrieved social template; andthe processor determines a level value of each member by comparing themember with members assigned to having the first social hierarchy level,the second social hierarchy level, and the third social hierarchy level,and provides only as much information as allowed by the determinedsocial hierarchy level.

According to an aspect of the invention, the user social statisticsinclude an amount of light of the environment of the communicationdevice, a sound level of the environment of the communication device, adetected heart rate of a user of the communication device, ultrasoundlevels of the communication device, infrared levels of the communicationdevice, temperature levels of the communication device, localnetwork/data logging of the communication device, capacitive readings ofa touch screen of the communication device, a biometric based upon auser's use of the communication device, data related to thecommunications by and programs running on the communication device,pressure data of the communication device, magnetic field data of thecommunication device, proximity data of the communication devices, orcombinations thereof.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor further detects adisparity between the detected social signature and the range of socialsignatures which can be successfully classified using the determinedsocial template, updates the determined social template such that thesocial signature of the determined social template successfullyclassifies the detected social signature where the determined socialtemplate can be modified to successfully classify the detected socialsignature without introducing error. Alternately, the processor createsan alternative social template using at least the detected socialsignature where the determined social template cannot be modified tosuccessfully classify the detected social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor automaticallydetermines if an incoming communication from a communication requestoris interruptive by, prior to completing the communication, assigning thecommunication requestor to one of the levels of the social hierarchy,and providing to the communication requestor only as much information asallowed under the social hierarchy based on the retrieved socialtemplate.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, each level of the related social hierarchy corresponds to acorresponding different social networking service, and the processorautomatically provides different updates to each of the socialnetworking services as allowed under the social hierarchy based on theone social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the social networkingservices is for professional networking, one of the social networkingservices is for non-professional networking, and one of the socialnetworking services is a microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for a socialnetworking service, and the processor automatically provides an updateto the social networking services.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for amicroblogging service, and the processor automatically provides anupdate to the microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, at least one of the socialtemplates corresponds to an emergency update, and when the processordetects an emergency situation from the sensor data, the processorautomatically provides information related to the emergency topredetermined emergency services, friends and/or family membersaccording to the detected emergency situation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor processes thereceived sensor data to obtain biometric data of a user of thecommunication device, creates a social signature from the receivedsensor data and the obtained biometric data, identifies the useraccording to the obtained biometric data, and retrieves from the memorythe determined social template having the greatest correspondence to thecreated social signature for the identified user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises aninput device which the user uses to input data, and the processoridentifies the user according to a writing pattern of the user whileinputting the data.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anoptical sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to apattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anaudio sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to aspeech pattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anUltra Wideband sensor which provides ranging data regarding theenvironment, and the processor includes in the social signature a sizeof the location in which the communication device is found.

According to an aspect of the invention, a communication device toautomatically provide differing levels of information according to apredetermined social hierarchy includes a sensor set which detectssensor data related to an environment of the communication device; amemory which stores social templates, each social template correspondingto a social signature; a processor which receives the sensor datareceived from the sensor set, creates a social signature from thereceived sensor data, determines which of the social signatures of thesocial templates has the greatest correspondence with the created socialsignature, retrieves from the memory the determined social templatehaving the greatest correspondence, and provides to at least one memberof the predetermined social hierarchy only as much information asallowed under the social hierarchy based on the retrieved socialtemplate; a transceiver which provides communication with respect toexternal devices, and sends the information based on the retrievedsocial template under the control of the processor; and a housing whichhouses the sensor set, the processor, the memory, and the transceiver.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor set comprises: alocation sensor which senses a location of the communication device; anacceleration sensor which senses movement of the communication device;and one or more sensors which sense an interaction between thecommunication device and the environment of the communication device,and the processor compares the location with map data to determine a maplocation of the communication device, and creates the social signatureto include information on the map location of the communication device,the acceleration being experienced by the communication device, and theenvironment of the communication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the device comprises a mobiledevice.

According to an aspect of the invention, the levels of the socialhierarchy of the related social template include a first socialhierarchy level which provides one level of information, a second socialhierarchy level which provides another level of information, and a thirdsocial hierarchy level which provides a different level of information;and the processor determines a level value of each member by comparingthe member with members assigned to having the first social hierarchylevel, the second social hierarchy level, and the third social hierarchylevel, and provides only as much information as allowed by thedetermined social hierarchy level.

According to an aspect of the invention, the first social hierarchylevel provides information including a desired contact state, the maplocation and the environment, the second social hierarchy level providesinformation including the desired contact state and the environment butnot the map location, and the third social hierarchy level providesinformation on only the desired contact state.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor set furthercomprises an optical sensor which detects an amount of light of theenvironment of the communication device, and an acoustic sensor whichdetects a sound level and/or characteristics of the environment of thecommunication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor automaticallydetermines if an incoming communication from a communication requestorbeing received through the transceiver is interruptive by, prior tocompleting the communication, assigning the communication requestor toone of the levels of the social hierarchy, and providing to thecommunication requestor only as much information as allowed under thesocial hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, each level of the related social hierarchy corresponds to acorresponding different social networking service, and the processorautomatically provides different updates to each of the socialnetworking services as allowed under the social hierarchy based on theone social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the social networkingservices is for professional networking, one of the social networkingservices is for non-professional networking, and one of the socialnetworking services is a microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for a socialnetworking service, and the processor automatically provides an updateto the social networking services.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for amicroblogging service, and the processor automatically provides anupdate to the microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, at least one of the socialtemplates corresponds to an emergency update, and when the processordetects an emergency situation from the sensor data, the processorautomatically provides information related to the emergency topredetermined emergency services, friends and/or family membersaccording to the detected emergency situation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor processes thereceived sensor data to obtain biometric data of a user of thecommunication device, creates a social signature from the receivedsensor data and the obtained biometric data, identifies the useraccording to the obtained biometric data, and retrieves from the memorythe determined social template having the greatest correspondence to thecreated social signature for the identified user.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor set comprises aninput device which the user uses to input data, and the processoridentifies the user according to a writing pattern of the user whileinputting the data.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anoptical sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to apattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anaudio sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to aspeech pattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises aninput device which the user uses to input data, and the processordetects a status of the communication device according to use or non-useof the input device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the input device comprises atouch screen display including a capacitive sensor, and the processordetects a status of the communication device according to changes in acapacitance detected by the capacitive sensor.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anUltra Wideband sensor which provides ranging data regarding theenvironment, and the processor includes in the social signature a sizeof the location in which the communication device is found.

According to an aspect of the invention, a server in communication witha communication device via a network and which automatically providesdiffering levels of information according to a predetermined socialhierarchy includes a memory which stores social templates, each socialtemplate corresponding to a social signature; a processor which receivesfrom the communication device sensor data received from a sensor set ofthe communication device which detects sensor data related to anenvironment of the communication device, creates a social signature fromthe received sensor data, determines which of the social signatures ofthe social templates has the greatest correspondence with the createdsocial signature, retrieves from the memory the determined socialtemplate having the greatest correspondence, and provides to at leastone member of the predetermined social hierarchy only as muchinformation as allowed under the social hierarchy based on the retrievedsocial template; and a transceiver which receives the sensor data fromthe sensor set in the communication device, and provides under thecontrol of the processor to at least one of the members of thepredetermined social hierarchy only as much information as allowed underthe social hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor data comprises alocation of the communication device, movement of the communicationdevice, and an interaction between the communication device and theenvironment of the communication device, and the processor compares thelocation with map data to determine a map location of the communicationdevice, and creates the detected social signature to include informationon the map location of the communication device, the movement beingexperienced by the communication device, and the environment of thecommunication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the levels of the socialhierarchy of the related social template include: a first socialhierarchy level which provides information including a desired contactstate, the map location and the environment, a second social hierarchylevel which provides information including the desired contact state andthe environment but not the map location, and a third social hierarchylevel which provides information on only the desired contact state; andthe processor determines a level value of each member by comparing themember with members assigned to having the first social hierarchy level,the second social hierarchy level, and the third social hierarchy level,and provides only as much information as allowed by the determinedsocial hierarchy level.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor data comprisesoptical information from an optical sensor which detects an amount oflight of the environment of the communication device, and acousticinformation from an acoustic sensor which detects a sound level of theenvironment of the communication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor automaticallydetermines if an incoming communication from a communication requestorbeing received through the transceiver is interruptive by, prior tocompleting the communication, assigning the communication requestor toone of the levels of the social hierarchy, and providing to thecommunication requestor only as much information as allowed under thesocial hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, each level of the related social hierarchy corresponds to acorresponding different social networking service, and the processorautomatically provides different updates to each of the socialnetworking services as allowed under the social hierarchy based on theone social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the social networkingservices is for professional networking, one of the social networkingservices is for non-professional networking, and one of the socialnetworking services is a microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for a socialnetworking service, and the processor automatically provides an updateto the social networking services.

According to an aspect of the invention, for at least one of the socialtemplates, there is a single level of social hierarchy for amicroblogging service, and the processor automatically provides anupdate to the microblogging service.

According to an aspect of the invention, at least one of the socialtemplates corresponds to an emergency update, and when the processordetects an emergency situation from the sensor data, the processorautomatically provides information related to the emergency topredetermined emergency services, friends and/or family membersaccording to the detected emergency situation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the processor processes thereceived sensor data to obtain biometric data of a user of thecommunication device, creates the detected social signature from thereceived sensor data and the obtained biometric data, identifies theuser according to the obtained biometric data, and retrieves from thememory the determined one social template having the greatestcorrespondence to the detected social signature for the identified user.

According to an aspect of the invention, the sensor set comprises aninput device which the user uses to input data, and the processoridentifies the user according to a writing pattern of the user whileinputting the data.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anoptical sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to apattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anaudio sensor, and the processor identifies the user according to aspeech pattern recognition unique to the user.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises aninput device which the user uses to input data, and the processordetects a status of the communication device according to use or non-useof the input device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the input device comprises atouch screen display including a capacitive sensor, and the processordetects a status of the communication device according to changes in acapacitance detected by the capacitive sensor.

According to an aspect of the invention, one of the sensors comprises anUltra Wideband sensor which provides ranging data regarding theenvironment, and the processor includes in the social signature a sizeof the location in which the communication device is found.

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of automaticallyproviding differing levels of information according to a predeterminedsocial hierarchy includes: constructing a social signature using sensordata sensed by a sensor set in a communication device; determining whichone of a plurality of social templates has a greatest correspondencewith the constructed social signature, each social templatecorresponding to a social signature; retrieving from a memory thedetermined social template having the greatest correspondence; andproviding to at least one member of the predetermined social hierarchyonly as much information as allowed under the social hierarchy based onthe retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the social signature includes alocation of the communication device, a movement of the communicationdevice, and user social statistics indicating a historical interactionbetween the communication device and the environment of thecommunication device, and the constructing the social signaturecomprises comparing the location with map data to determine a maplocation of the communication device, and creating the social signatureto include information on the map location of the communication device,the movement being experienced by the communication device, and theenvironment of the communication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, the method further includesdetecting an incoming communication from a communication requestor; andprior to completing the communication, assigning the communicationrequestor to one of the levels of the social hierarchy, and providing tothe communication requestor only as much information as allowed underthe social hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the providing comprisesproviding an update to a social networking service as allowed under thesocial hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the providing comprisesproviding a different update to another social networking service asallowed under the social hierarchy based on the retrieved socialtemplate.

According to an aspect of the invention, the providing comprisesproviding an update to a microblogging service as allowed under thesocial hierarchy based on the retrieved social template.

According to an aspect of the invention, the method further includesdetecting an emergency situation from the sensor data, wherein theproviding comprises automatically providing information related to theemergency to predetermined emergency services, friends and/or familymembers according to the detected emergency situation using one of thesocial templates.

According to an aspect of the invention, the method further includesobtaining biometric data using the sensor data; and identifying a userof the communication device according to the obtained biometric data,wherein the determining comprises determining the social template havingthe greatest correspondence for the identified user.

According to an aspect of the invention, a computer readable medium isencoded with processing instructions to implement the method executed byone or more processors.

A system to automatically provide suggestions to a user may comprise acommunication device comprising a sensor set which detects sensor datarelated to an environment of the communication device, the devicesupplying information based on the detected sensor data; a memory whichstores social templates, each social template corresponding to a uniqueset of social signatures; and one or more processors which receive theinformation based on the detected sensor data, create a social signaturefrom the received information, determine which of the stored socialtemplates has a greatest correspondence with the created socialsignature, and performs one or more operations based on the determinedsocial template.

According to an aspect of the invention, a system to provideidentification of an individual may comprise a communication devicecomprising a sensor set which detects sensor data related to anenvironment of the communication device, the device supplyinginformation based on the detected sensor data; a memory which storessocial templates, each social template corresponding to a unique set ofsocial signatures; and one or more processors which receive theinformation based on the detected sensor data, create a social signaturefrom the received information, determine which of the stored socialtemplates has a greatest correspondence with the created socialsignature, and calculates a metric of identification of an individual inthe environment of the communication device.

According to an aspect of the invention, a method for service deliverymay comprise detecting sensor data; representing the detected sensordata in a social signature; processing one or more social signaturesusing at least one of a plurality of related social templates;successfully classifying one or more activities represented in at leastone social signature; and responding to the successful classification ofa social signature based in part on information associated with thesocial template used in the successful classification of the socialsignature.

According to an aspect of the invention, a set of microprocessorinstructions, stored in a non-transitory memory, enabling the automaticprovision of services to a user based upon an analysis of anenvironment, may comprise a social signature module to accept detectedsensor data and create social signature based upon the detected sensordata, where each social signature is represents a set of detected sensordata; and a social template module to accept the created socialsignature, access a plurality of social templates stored in a memory,classify the social signature, and execute one or more operationsinitiated by the successful classification of one or more socialsignatures.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a social monitoring system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for a method of social monitoringusing activity sensors in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

Embodiments of the present invention are designed to monitor socialactivity using multiple data sources. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1,a mobile device 100 monitors location, acceleration, orientation, audioand optical samples using a set of sensors which over time can be usedto create one or more social statistics. In the shown example, thesensor set includes sensors 110, 120, 130, 140 included in the mobiledevice 100. A user's activity may be classified based on one or moresocial statistics obtained over time from the sensors 110, 120, 130, 140identification of location, acceleration, orientation, audio and opticalsamples, in addition to other possible collected information such aspurchasing data or ranging data, as well as static and/or dynamicclassification rules. Examples of user activities include driving,napping, in a meeting, showering, etc. While shown as incorporated intothe body of the mobile device 100, it is understood that one or more ofthe sensors 110, 120, 130, 140 can be connectable to the mobile device100 using wired and/or wireless communication, such as where a camera orheadset is connected using a Bluetooth connection. It is also understoodthat, although the term “mobile device” is used for convenience,non-mobile communication devices may also be used in some embodiments ofthe invention, as will be clear in the description to follow.

For instance, a first calculation is made of a user's location and theposition of the mobile device 100 using a GPS statistic associated withthe user's location detected from the location sensor 110, and localmeasurements of accelerometers included in the inertial sensor 120.Location information is obtained by the location sensor 110. In theshown mobile device 100, additional user social statistics areaccumulated using the optical sensor 130 and the acoustic sensor 140,which collect additional information relevant to an interaction betweenthe environment of the mobile device 100 and the mobile device 100.

While the user social statistics are shown based on the sensors 110,120, 130, 140, it is understood that the user social statistics caninclude other types of information in addition to or instead ofinformation from one or more of these sensors 110, 120, 130, 140. Forinstance, the information can be from other sensors including but notlimited to sensors which detect heart rate, ultrasound sensors, infraredsensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, magnetic field sensors,proximity sensors, and other environmental sensors which detect a userenvironment, or combinations thereof. Yet other information may includebut is not limited to application usage or other computer data. Theinformation may also be provided directly by an individual or otherdevice.

While not shown, in other aspects of the invention, the socialstatistics can include local network/data logging which records networksignal characteristics through the course of a day. Such logging couldinclude detection of Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth, WiFi orother short range communication networks. In this way, a socialsignature might become associated with specific mobile devices andnetworks in particular locations and times in order to help identifythat, when these combinations of networks are detected, a particularsocial template is to be used. For instance, if one of the detectedmobile devices corresponds to logging associated with a particularfriend, one social template might be chosen in preference to anothersocial template, the chosen template being more willing to allowcommunication if the user is sensed to be alone.

While not shown, in other aspects of the invention, the socialstatistics can include sensing a touch screen. The touch screen is acapacitive interface, and therefore if there is no capacitive reading,it might indicate that the mobile device 100 is not exposed or beingheld (example, in a backpack or drawer). In contrast, if the capacitivereading is low, the level might indicate that the mobile device 100 isin a pocket or being held. Similarly, at other capacitive readings, thiswould be indicative that the user is actively using the mobile device100. The level of the capacitive reading would therefore be usable inthe social signature in aspects of the invention.

In other aspects of the invention, the social statistics can include abiometric based upon a user's use of the mobile device 100. Thebiometric could be used to identify the user, and thus verify which useris using the mobile device 100. Such biometrics could be obtained fromspecific sensors, or through combinations of sensors used for otherpurposes and whose output is further processed. By way of example, thebiometric could be based upon an analysis of patterns obtained throughthe optical sensor 130 and the acoustic sensor 140 as analyzed by theprocessors 135, 145 and/or the calculating logic 150.

An example of a biometric is based upon patterns specific to a user'sinputting of data. For instance, for a touch screen or a keyboard,people tend to have the same rate of time between certain actions andtend to make the same input errors again and again. Time is the keydistinguishing element in this biometric. For instance, when inputting,three different letters (example JIM), the user will type certain wordswith a proportional time between each key stroke (i.e., J<21 ms>I <55ms>M). While the time may vary, the fact that the time between J and Iwill be roughly half that of the time between I and M will be generallyconstant for that user. In contrast, a different user will havedifferent timings between each letter pair. However, it is understoodthat other biometrics could be used, such as user name and passwords,retina and/or fingerprint recognition, facial and motion recognitiontechniques, voice, hand geometry, and other mechanism by which aparticular user is identified based upon that user's characteristics.Such biometrics could be detected using combinations of the sensors 110,120. 130, 140, or through use of additional sensors. The use of abiometric can be useful in confirming who you are communicating with asthe mobile device 100 can be used by multiple users, and therefore wouldbe usable in the social signature in aspects of the invention.

It is noted that usage of the mobile device 100 can also be used in thesocial statistic as a form of sensor data. In these instances, the usagecould be detected by an element being used acting as a sensor (e.g., thecalculating logic 150 performing an operation, a transceiver 170performing a communication operation, and/or an input device receivinginformation), and the resulting usage data being included in the sensordata to create a social signature.

For instance, the usage data can be communications by and programsrunning on the mobile device 100 and would be sensed by the calculatinglogic 150, whereby the calculating logic 150 would be a type of sensorfor purposes of forming a social signature. As another example, wherethe mobile device 100 is linked to a Bluetooth headset, thiscommunication status could be detected by a transceiver 170 and/or thecalculating logic 150 as a form of sensor data, and the sensor datacould be used in the social statistic. Similarly, where the user isrunning an email program, a game program, or a media program, this usagedata could be detected by the calculating logic 150 as a sensor and theusage data included in the sensor data could be used in the socialstatistic. Moreover, where a transaction is being processed (such as thepurchase of an item) or the user is using an input device (such as a keyboard, touch screen display, joystick, and/or clickwheel), this usagedata may be detected by the calculating logic 150 and/or input device asa sensor and indicate that the user is available for certain types ofcalls. Thus, the operations of the mobile device 100 itself couldfurnish information as part of the social statistics.

A second calculation can be made of the user social statistic based onthe static and/or dynamic rule set. The user's social classification maybe calculated based on the first calculation, the second calculation,and a preset reporting level which offers a specific hierarchical levelof social classification based on the caller.

Calculation of a social statistic may be performed in whole or in partby the mobile device or by a remote server. The mobile device 100 may bea cellular phone, wrist watch, mp3 player, portable media player,personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile game console, laptop computer,or any other device which can support an set of sensors and be carriedby a user. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the mobile device 100 is aportable electronic device that includes one or more inertial sensors120, one or more location sensors 110, one or more audio sensors 140 andone or more optical sensors 130.

The location sensor 110 can include a single location sensor, ormultiple location sensors. Where there are multiple location sensors,the sensors can be of the same type to provide redundancy, or ofmultiple different types of location sensors to provide locationinformation in case one type of signal is not working. The locationsensor 110 provides the location information to a location processor115.

In one embodiment, the location sensor 110 includes a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor comprising a GPS antenna and a GPS receiver. The GPSsensor obtains location information from one or more GPS satellites,which are received at the GPS antenna and processed using the GPSreceiver.

In one embodiment, the location sensor 110 includes a networklocalization sensor. A network localization sensor determines a positionby receiving signals from multiple sources that have known locations,and calculating the position based on the combined signals usingtrigonometric relations. The signals used to determine location may beradio frequency (RF) signals formatted according to the Bluetoothprotocol, Zigbee protocol, wireless fidelity (WiFi) protocol, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM) protocol, 3G mobilecommunications protocol, etc. For example, a first network localizationsensor may perform network triangulation using signals received from amobile phone service provider's cell towers. In another example, asecond network localization sensor may perform triangulation usingwireless fidelity (WiFi) signals received from multiple nearby WiFiaccess points (e.g., hotspots).

In one embodiment, the location sensor 110 includes a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader that reads transponders (e.g., passiveintegrated transponders (PITs)). Each transponder may report a specificlocation. When, for example, a transponder that reports location A isread, the location sensor knows to a high degree of certainty that theelectronic device is at location A.

Alternatively, the location sensor 110 may itself include a PIT that isread by an RFID reader at a known location. Upon the PIT being read by aparticular RFID reader having a known location, the location sensor maylearn its current location.

As noted above, the location sensor 110 can comprise a system ofmultiple location sensors which may be used separately or together. Whenused separately, each location sensor may independently determine alocation of the electronic device, and report the location to thelocation processor 115. When used together, the capabilities of onelocation sensor 110 can be used to augment the capabilities of anotherlocation based sensor. Examples of such cooperative use of locationsensors include assisted GPS and enhanced GPS, in which location datareported by a network localization sensor is used to augment a GPSsensor and to reduce the time and processing effort needed to quicklyidentify a location. A single location may then be reported to thelocation processor 115.

The location sensor 110 may generate location information continuously,or at a sampling rate that may be fixed or variable. In one embodiment,the location sensor 110 receives a timing signal from a timer (notshown) to take measurements at the sampling rate. The location sensor110 may obtain location measurements at a sampling rate that is the sameas or different from the sampling rate at which the inertial sensor 120collects acceleration measurement data. In this manner, the mobiledevice 100 can collect instantaneous accelerations from the accelerationmeasurement data measured by the inertial sensor 120, as well as longterm accelerations using the differences in the location measurementsmeasured by the location sensor 110.

The one or more location sensors 110 can report a position of theelectronic device 100 as a latitude and longitude, and may report ahorizontal accuracy. In one embodiment, the horizontal accuracy of thelocation is reported as a confidence radius. For example, a location maybe reported with a horizontal accuracy of 3 m, meaning that the reportedlocation is accurate within a circle having a 3 m radius. Accuracy ofthe location may vary from about 1 m to about 100 m for location dataobtained by a GPS sensor, depending on user location (e.g., in a city,under open sky, under a tree, in a building, etc.). The locationinformation may further include an altitude, and may include a verticalaccuracy. The location information may also include a time that thelocation was recorded.

In a one embodiment, the location sensor 110 is coupled to a mappingprocessor included in the location processor 115. The mapping processorprocesses location measurement data received from the location sensor110 to provide data used to identify a social classification of a personto whom communication is desired. For instance, in an aspect of theinvention, the mapping processor can compare the sensed location withknown locations in the user's address book or contact list to determinethe location (i.e., at home, at a dentist office, at work).Additionally, in other aspects, the mapping processor can compare thesensed location with a map stored in the mobile device 100 or retrievedfrom a query to an internet service such as MapQuest or Google maps, anddetermine the location as being a restaurant, store, office or otherlike location according to such publicly available information.

The inertial sensor 120 may measure accelerations along a single axis ormultiple axes, and may measure linear as well as rotational (angular)accelerations. In one embodiment, one or more inertial sensors 120together provide three dimensional acceleration measurement data so asto indicate the instantaneous motion of the mobile device 100, and hencegiven an indication as to the motion of the user of the mobile device100. The inertial sensor 120 may generate acceleration measurement datacontinuously, or at a sampling rate that may be fixed or variable. Inone embodiment, the inertial sensor 120 receives a timing signal from atimer (not shown) to take measurements at the sampling rate. Theinertial sensor 120 provides the acceleration measurement data and/ormovement data to a motion processor 125.

However, it is understood that the functionality of the inertial sensor120 can be estimated, such as where the overall motion or movement isdetected using differences in location sensed by the location sensor110. Conversely, where the location is not known due to a lack of asignal to the location sensor 110 or where the location sensor 110 isnot included, the inertial sensor 120 can be used to estimate thelocation of the mobile device 100 relative to a known starting point.The known starting point can be set by the user, or sensed from acommunication from known access points and networks having a knownlocation.

In one embodiment, the inertial sensor 120 is coupled to the motionprocessor 125. The motion processor 125 processes accelerationmeasurement data received from the inertial sensor 120 to provide dataused to provide a social signature of the user and/or as a biometric.For instance, specific patterns of acceleration might indicate specificactivities (sleeping versus running versus walking), and the rhythm ofsuch movement could also indicate the user to the extent the user'saccelerations provide a unique pattern.

The optical sensor 130 may generate simple light level measurement datacontinuously, or at a sampling rate that may be fixed or variable. Theoptical sensor 130 provides the light level measurement to an opticalprocessor 135. While not required in all aspects, the optical sensor 130can be a camera (still or video) as used in mobile phones.

In one embodiment, the optical sensor 130 includes charged couplingdevice (CCD) sensors, whereby image data is sampled by the CCD sensorsand is used to better classify the social situation and preprocessing ofthe optical signal using signal processing techniques can be used tosimply classification calculations. For instance, if the CCD sensorsdetect a low level of light, the mobile device 100 can determine thatthe mobile device 100 is in a dark location (such as in a pocket, in aroom with the lights off, or outside during the night). Whereas if theCCD sensors detect the high level of light, this could indicate that themobile device 100 is in use or is merely exposed in a room with thelights on or is outside during the daytime. While described in terms ofthe visible light, the optical sensor 330 could also be a type of camerawhich detects non-visible light spectra, such as infrared or ultravioletdetectors, or other radiation and energy detectors.

In one embodiment, the optical sensor 130 is coupled to an opticalsignal processor included in the optical processor 135. The opticalsignal processor processes optical samples of data received from theoptical sensor 130 to provide data used to identify a socialclassification of a person to whom communication is desired.

The acoustic sensor 140 may generate acoustic measurement datacontinuously, or at a sampling rate that may be fixed or variable. Inone embodiment, multiple acoustic sensors are used to filter noise fromrelevant acoustic signals and preprocessing of the acoustic signal usingsignal processing techniques can be used to simplify classificationcalculations. Examples of the acoustic sensor 140 include a microphoneor like mechanism which detects acoustics and sounds. The acousticsensor 140 provides the detected acoustics and sound to an acousticprocessor 145.

In one embodiment, the acoustic sensor 140 is coupled to an acousticsignal processor included in the acoustic processor 145. The acousticsignal processor processes acoustic samples of data received from theacoustic sensor 140 to provide data used to identify a socialclassification of a person to whom communication is desired.

In one embodiment, a combination of any inertial sensor 120 coupled tothe motion processor, the location sensor 110 coupled to the mappingprocessor, the acoustic sensor 140 coupled to the acoustic signalprocessor and/or the optical sensor 130 coupled to the optical signalprocessor is used to provide data used to identify a socialclassification of a person to whom communication is desired.

In one embodiment, a combination of any inertial sensor data, locationsensor data, acoustic sensor data and/or an optical sensor data isformatted for processing at a location other than the mobile device 100and subsequently used to identify a social classification of a person towhom communication is desired. In this manner, the mobile device 100needs to devote less processing time and energy to perform such socialclassification and relies upon an outside computational device toprovide such functionality.

In one embodiment of the invention, the social statistics informationcan include Ultra Wideband sensor data which can provide ranging data,such as occurs with radar. In this manner, the ranging data couldprovide a 3D image of the room in which the mobile device 100 islocated, and/or provide simple room size and obstacle locationmeasurements. The use of the ranging data would be usable in the socialsignature in aspects of the invention. By way of example, the rangingdata could be usable in the social signature when combined with the maplocation detected from the mapping processor the location on a map,thereby allowing a social template to be constructed to provideinformation based both upon map location and a location relative towalls of a specific room in that location.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the social classification isperformed in the mobile device 100. Specifically, a calculating logic150 receives the processed data from the location processor 115, themotion processor 125, the optical processor 135, and the acousticprocessor 145, among other information such as purchasing or rangingdata, and compares the processed data with social templates 165 storedin a memory 160 included in the mobile device 100. The memory 160 can beremovable or permanently installed in the mobile device 100. Thecalculating logic 150 provides the result of the comparison to arequesting caller using a transceiver 170 via a network according to ahierarchical social classification. While shown as included in thedevice 100, it is understood that the transceiver 170 can be removablefrom the device 100.

Examples of hierarchical social classification that can be identifiedinclude high level classifications such as “available”, “busy”, and/or“do not disturb”. Under each of these broad classifications can be moreaccurate classifications which are potentially available to a moreselect social group. For example, under the hierarchical tree, “do notdisturb” can be divided into classifications such as “at the dentist”,“sleeping”, and/or “with a customer”. While a caller may still choose toadvance the call upon notice of the classification, they will do sobeing able to socially weigh the urgency of the communication againstthe social classification of the user being contacted. Each set ofhierarchical classifications can be used to further refine or build newtemplates associated with more accurate classifications.

The calculating logic 150 can further use the data from the processors115, 125, 135, 145 to classify a current user's activity from aplurality of predefined identifiable user activities as well as traineduser activities. In one embodiment, the calculating logic 150 identifiesa user's social activity by monitoring for different social signatures,and applies a corresponding social template to determine how to treat anincoming communication request.

In one embodiment, when enough events indicative of a particular usersocial activity are detected, the calculating logic 150 identifies theactivity as being performed by the user. In one embodiment, events mayinclude positive events (ones that must be met to classify a socialstate in a certain way) and negative events (ones that indicate that asocial state cannot be classified in a certain way). For instance, wherea user is classified as entering a coffee shop at 7:32 am which is hisnormal routine, the classification can be made that he is on his way towork and has a 97% probability of arriving on time at 8:02 am accordingto the corresponding social template. However, in this instance, heorders two coffees and arrives at work at 8:20 am. This deviation is anegative event from the classification of the coffee ordering time tothe arrival at work, and a positive event from the classification of thenumber of coffees ordered as well as time to the user's arrival time atwork.

Once the system has identified a user activity, the system may apply aset of motion criteria specific to the identified social state toestimate one or more user social statistics (e.g., to detectintrusiveness of a communication request). Social state criteria mayinclude thresholds, comparison requirements, action windows, etc. Forinstance, in relation to the coffee shop example above, the comparisonmay be looking at the purchase amount, audio input and physical locationin comparison to typical actions to say socially that the user is havinga tall, soy latte with a friend at the coffee shop. This may however notbe what is reported to everyone depending on the social template andsocial hierarchy. Thus, the social template is used by the system andmay allow specific friends to know that he is drinking coffee at thecoffee shop, may allow his co-workers to know that he is in a personalmeeting, and only allow the rest of the world to know that he is busyand should not be disturbed. These would be examples of social groupingwhere a single event would be reported in multiple ways based on wherethe requestor fit in this user's social hierarchy. So certain socialstates may cross a threshold of what should be reported to which groups,a comparison of data previously shared versus currently available to beshared may be used, and specific action windows can be used to allow theuser to share data after the event so that nothing is provided withoutknowledge and this becomes the basis of further training.

In one embodiment, the social signature could be used to classify aparticular purchasing experience of the user. For instance, a specificlocation at a specific time (date, day of the week, holiday) couldconstruct a social signature indicative of a shopping experience or arestaurant experience. The identity of the location could be made usingmap data and/or through a user's address book, and thus the name of theestablishment could be found and identified as a location for makingpurchases. Also, ranging data or sensor data, such as acoustic dataand/or optical data and/or ambient temperature, can be used to determinethe emotional state (stress level or mood) of the user, which may beconsistent with a specific shopping experience. The social signaturecould also be used to classify a specific product/service/establishmentor the class of the product/service/establishment or to exclude certainproducts/services/establishments to limit the number of possibleproducts/services/establishments being matched.

Moreover, in one embodiment, the acoustic and/or optical sensor datamight indicate the type of person accompanying the user (i.e., pitch ofvoices and/or a facial recognition might indicate a child versus anadult, or a male versus a female, etc.). In an aspect of the invention,the system could identify the specific person if biometric data can beobtained from the acoustic and/or optical signatures. The acoustic datacould also be used to detect the type of social situation, such as loudconversations being indicative of a bar, quieter conversations beingindicative of a restaurant, and sudden spurts of cheering might indicatea sporting event. As such, these various inputs further clarify aparticular social situation beyond merely identifying the location andthe specific establishment.

By way of example, where the user brings the communication device into alocation which has loud conversations, the communication device coulddetermine the name of the establishment by correlating the location withmap data. The loud conversations in correlation with a specific timemight indicate different purchasing preferences, and thus result indifferent purchasing scenarios. For instance, the specific time might bein a range more typical of lunch versus dinner, in a range more typicalof happy hour with friends versus dinner, or in a range more indicativeof desert versus lunch or dinner. The specific time would be usable inthe social signature to select different social templates even in thesame establishment. Thus, the social signature could be used to identifythe type of shopping, dining, or purchasing experience of the user byapplying a social template reflecting this type of experience.

In one embodiment, when a purchasing experience is detected from thesocial signature, the social template could be used to preventinterruptions or to inform others of the user's activities according toa set social hierarchy. In addition, different social templates could beset up to provide recommendations on possible purchases to the userand/or others in the social hierarchy. Returning to the restaurantexample, the social template could be programmed so that it is used bythe system to provide to the user a suggestion based upon priorexperiences in the same establishment or a common category ofestablishments. In this manner, the social template, and optionally dataon past purchases, could be used to suggest future purchases, and canuse this data across categories of establishments. Thus, if the socialsignature indicates a purchasing experience of purchasing coffee at acoffee shop, and the past purchase data indicates that the usertypically wants a cappuccino based upon the location, time, and acousticdata, the social template is used by the system and might suggest to theuser to purchase the cappuccino in any establishment when they are in acategory of “coffee shop”.

Additionally, motion, acceleration, light, temperature, can yield anactivity (running, biking, driving, etc.) followed by a food purchase.Then, the next time the activity is pursued, suggestions or couponsrelated to the food purchase could be offered for a similar purchase.

The purchase data can be captured and stored in the system in many ways.Illustrative examples include, but are not limited to, the purchase databeing captured from direct keying of the purchase into the system orfrom optical character recognition (OCR) of images of prior receipts, orfrom a history of online purchases, or from transactions made with amobile device through an electronic wallet application, or from listsindicating what was purchased. The past purchase data could also comethrough an interface with purchasing recommendation websites, such aswhere the user has an affinity or loyalty card with a particularestablishment which records past purchases, or has signed onto aparticular service which records prior purchase history (such as isavailable on AMAZON or through ITUNES). Such past purchase data could besegregated according to particular establishments or stores, or could beused for establishments or stores having the same basic categories. Inthis manner, where a user goes to a new restaurant, the user's pastpurchases in the same basic restaurant category (i.e., Italian food,fast food, etc.) can be used to predict possible purchases at the newrestaurant.

In addition to or instead of past purchase data, purchase data could beavailable based upon third party input, such as is available throughsocial networking sites and/or recommendation websites such as YELP orOPENTABLE. Additionally, purchase data can be made available based uponthird party input, such as one or more of a user's contacts, generalcommunity, and/or general population having made certain purchases oridentification of relative purchase trends/fads, which may influence auser's purchase decision. Conversely, purchase data indicating that noone has made a certain purchase may influence a user's purchasedecision. Thus, even when a user has not purchased anything at aparticular location, purchase data can be used as part of the socialsignature which then allows the system to provide suggestions accordingto a particular social template.

In one embodiment, the suggestion can be coordinated with a particularestablishment. Specifically, when the social signature corresponds tothe particular establishment, the social template is used by the systemand can retrieve from the establishment (such as through a link with theestablishment's network or through a connection with the establishment'swireless network) possible specials or sales that would be of interestto the user according to the social template. If the social templateincludes purchase data (such as past purchase data), the coordination ofthe social template with what is available as a special at theestablishment is used by the system and could forward even morespecialized suggestions and specials.

By way of example, if a user has a history of going to one familyrestaurant at the same time each Friday and always orders Buffalo wings,a social template could be stored which is used by the system toindicate that, on Fridays, the user likes to order buffalo wings. Shouldthe user switch and go to another restaurant one Friday, the systemcould retrieve the social template corresponding to Friday dining,access the another restaurant's network to identify a similar food toreplace the buffalo wings normally ordered at the other familyrestaurant, or provide specials (such as two for one deals, freesamples) to try the new restaurant's take on the same food.

In this embodiment, the establishment would benefit from the exchange bybeing able to provide the user with a more customized suggestion onspecials and potential purchases based upon the user's prior purchasinghabits. The establishment would also not have to inconvenience the userby requiring the use of an affinity or loyalty card, and would also notbe at risk of inadvertent disclosure of the user's data which would harmthe user's privacy. The user would benefit by not having theirparticular prior purchasing habits stored in individual establishments,which prevents using past purchase history to predict a new dish inother restaurants. Thus, the user would benefit from a centralizedcollection of this data in the system to allow the user bettersuggestions which are independent of the individual establishments.

In one embodiment, the social template could also utilize the date,time, and acoustic data to further modify the suggestions. For instance,where the acoustical data indicates cheering (sudden spurts of loudsounds) instead of conversation, the social signature might correspondmore closely to a social template for watching a sporting event orattending a party than going to dinner, and the suggestion might be foran appetizer which can be shared (buffalo wings, chips), as opposed to ameal. Similarly, where the time indicates lunch instead of dinner, thesuggestion based on the social template might be for a sandwich andchips instead of for a meal and appetizer, as might be suggested for asocial template corresponding to dinner. Moreover, where the acousticsignature indicates a child is present, the social template more closelyassociated with this social signature might be for a meal with a child,and thus the suggestion might include treats such as ice cream, orcookies, or special children's meals. As such, the system could usesocial templates in cooperation with a restaurant's network to provideindividual and customized suggestions which are context specific.

In one or more embodiments, the social template can utilize thehistorical continuity and/or patterning of sensor data as a basis foridentification of a user. For example, in one or more embodiments, thesystem might determine identification based on one or more retailtransactions, financial service transactions, or data transactions; orattempts to access a physical location, data access, or otherauthorization, or some combination of one or more of the above.Similarly, the identification might be reported to a retail serviceprovider, a financial services provider, or a data services provider; ora system controlling access to a physical location, access to data, orpermissions, or some combination of one or more of the above. Yet otherinformation for identification, and other recipients of theidentification, are also possible and will be elaborated on below, orwill be understood as options by those of skill in the art.

For example, where the historical data indicates a consistency with theuser's location of waking, morning routine, and the location of theirnormal coffee purchase on the way to their office, then troubling theuser for PIN numbers, passwords, or identification is effectivelyredundant. As mobile devices are increasingly being used as mobilewallets, the social signature in light of one or more social templatescan be utilized as a passive means of verification of identity.Unauthorized users will not be able to match the patterns of usage andthis identification can be made well in advance of a requiredvalidation. In the case where a mobile device is used in a way that isinconsistent with earlier patterns of use, then secondary means of useridentification can be triggered.

In one embodiment, a mobile device user can make a purchase via theInternet using a charge card for the transaction. Validation of theuser's identification can be accomplished by processing of one or moresocial signatures and/or social statistics consistent with that user.This passive identification method can be used to prevent identify theftas well as numerous other types of fraud.

In one embodiment, assuming a husband is purchasing a gift for his wifefor an event stored in the server or communication device (such as anupcoming birthday, holiday or anniversary), a social template could becreated that the system can use to suggest different gift options basedupon the identified store and the event as identified from the time.Some examples of such suggestions could be for a particular bouquet offlowers for his wife's birthday, a book based upon a past purchase of arelated movie or book, music based upon suggestions from third parties,etc.

Thus, by incorporating purchasing data in the social signature and usingthe social template to link the social signature with purchasesavailable at a particular establishment, the establishment is able toprovide customized specials, advertising and suggestions to the userwithout having the user sign up for an affinity or loyalty card orotherwise storing private data of the user. Moreover, by allowing formultiple purchasing scenarios at the same location according to detectedsensor data and/or time, the social templates can be refined withparticular specials more closely approximating the actual situation andenvironment of the user in real time.

However, the social template and social signature need not be solelyused by the purchaser and can also be used by the establishment in otheraspects of the invention. For instance, the mobile device 100 could bean electronic card reader, point of sale terminal, a mobile phone havinga point of sale application, and/or menu through which an employeecommunicates with customers. In this context, the social signature wouldbe used to identify a particular social template so as to suggestparticular purchases, sale items, or specials to the customer.

In one embodiment, the mobile device 100 captures the identity of thecustomer, such as might occur when a purchase of a drink is made, wherethe customer's affinity or loyalty card is used, where the customerprovides information, and/or where the customer is known by the employeeof the establishment. Once the customer identity is made, the identityinformation is used to detect from the establishment's records and/orrecords of a consolidator (such as a credit card company) to detect thecustomer's normal purchasing habits and preferences. Alternately, if thecustomer has a mobile device 100, the customer could allow the systemserving the establishment to interact with the system serving thecustomer's communication device to detect these same elements. As such,a social signature is created which includes the environment of thepatron as well as the patron's purchasing preferences in particularsettings, and a corresponding social template is used to makesuggestions on particular purchases, specials, and/or sales. While notrequired in all aspects, the use of a consolidator would allowrecommendations based upon purchases at other like establishments, whichwould increase the accuracy of the suggestion.

By way of example, where the user/establishment is a restaurant, when apatron arrives for dinner, the mobile device 100 detects the socialsignature relating to the time, the patron, and any people accompanyingthe patron. With this information, the system knows that the patron isin the restaurant on Friday night at 6:30 with his wife and twoteenagers. After identifying the patron, the system accessesconsolidator data from the consolidator using a network connected to thesystem, and the system detects that in this scenario, the patronnormally goes to another establishment on Friday night with a groupwhere they always order Buffalo wings as an appetizer. The restaurantnow applies its own social templates which are used to instruct theirwaiter via the mobile device 100 to offer them a free Buffalo wingsappetizer and direct them to selections that they're likely to enjoy.Such suggestions as a result of using the social template can be basedon the restaurant's own algorithm, or based on an algorithm at theconsolidator which helps identify like or similar items on the menu.Thus, where the restaurant does not serve Buffalo wings, the socialtemplate could suggest another spicy option to try.

In one embodiment, the device 100 could also detect where in therestaurant the patron is located using location data and/or rangingdata, so as to distinguish between likely offerings in different areasof the establishment. For instance, this location information coulddistinguish between a main dining room versus a bar area, or between amen's section of a clothing store and a woman's section of the samestore. Moreover, optical and/or acoustic data could be used todistinguish between atmospheres indicating a party or event watching ascompared to quieter dining experiences. In this way, the device 100could automatically account for movement by a waiter or employee betweendifferent areas of the establishment as well as to account for theenvironment actually occurring spontaneously as opposed to events whichare planned.

In one embodiment, the system could also be used to eliminate optionssuch that the suggestion is more tailored to a specific purchasingscenario. Returning to the restaurant example, the social signature andthe restaurant's/consolidator's data might indicate that the patron inthis situation does not like specific condiments like sour cream ormayonnaise on anything. In this manner, the results of using this socialtemplate might include this preference such that the waiter can takethis preference into account when placing the order of the Buffalo wingsor like suggested appetizer.

In one embodiment, the suggestion could be linked to other purchases inother categories. Where the system detects the customer identity andobtains suggestions, the system might use the consolidator to detectpurchases having a temporal proximity to the current time which mightaffect the suggestion. For instance, the system could detect suggestedpurchases from prior purchases stored in one set of databases, anddetect from another set of databases (such as those of a credit cardcompany) that the customer is likely in a rush due to another purchasefrom an unrelated establishment. In this example, the detection of theneed for expedited service can include sharing of the actual detectedanother purchase, or merely providing an indication that the customer islikely in a rush so as to maintain the privacy of the customer's entirepurchasing history. Additionally, temporal proximity may includehistorical relational suggestions. For instance, a customer's purchaseof a swimsuit a length of time (fixed or user specific) since the lastpurchase of sunscreen might affect a suggested purchase of sunscreen.

Similarly, in a restaurant, the system could detect that the group islikely in a rush based upon information received from a credit cardcompany indicating that the group needs to leave in one hour. Therestaurant would not need to know the reason for the departure, whichcould be for a movie or airplane flight purchased using the credit cardfrom the credit card company, but the restaurant could be given a rushindication where the difference in time between a start time of theticketed event and a current time is less than a predetermined amount.Conversely, where the group is at the restaurant and arrives with morethan enough time to spare before the next purchase, the credit cardcompany would provide a triage indication to the restaurant. The waiterwould be informed by the mobile device 100 of the need to rush and thesocial template could be selected according to a rush or non-rushindication such that the types of appetizers and entree's suggested bythe system are compatible with this purchasing scenario. While discussedin the context of using credit card data, it is understood that similarevent data could be obtained from a user's system, such as calendars ina user's mobile device or internet account (such as GOOGLE)communicating with the restaurant's system.

Moreover, the establishment could utilize temporally close priorpurchases to make suggestions and/or can also automatically make certainorders. Returning to the restaurant example, when the group leaves therestaurant, it goes to a movie theater. The movie theater includes itsown system and mobile device 100 which detects, from the tickets, theidentity of the patron and the group. The system also detects from itsown databases and/or the consolidator that prior purchases at the movietheater involve popcorn with no butter. As such, the social templatewould be selected so that the system automatically orders the popcornwith no butter so that the purchase is ready when the patron arrives atthe counter. The timing of the automatic order could be based upon theknown time of the event (i.e., the movie), when the ticket is collected,and/or when the group makes final payment at the restaurant (a timewhich is relayed to the movie theater via the credit card company).

Moreover, systems of the establishments could provide cross sellingopportunities based upon known patterns of the customers. In one suchembodiment, the movie theater could enter into a separate contract withthe restaurant or other restaurants to provide cross-sellingopportunities. For instance, the movie theater system could use a socialtemplate which could result in providing coupons for the restaurant orlike restaurants based upon the purchase just prior to arriving at themovie theater. Conversely, prior to leaving the restaurant, therestaurant system could use a social template which could result inproviding suggested movies at the movie theater based upon the recentpurchase and/or a offer coupon for the popcorn. Thus, aspects of theinvention allow for specific cross selling opportunities using thedetected social signature of the customer in particular purchasingsituations.

While many of the above embodiments have been discussed in the contextof restaurants and movie theaters, it is understood that other servicesand establishments could utilize the system for improved customerpurchasing experiences. For instance, a clothing store could detect fromprior purchases of clothing what type of clothing the customer is likelylooking for by detecting what types of clothing were recently purchased.As such, aspects of the invention allow businesses the use of socialtemplates and social signatures to improve the purchasing experience ofthe customer by using available data in a simple and straightforwardway.

Additionally, it should be understood that although some purchases arepredictable and repetitive (a morning coffee, filling up the car, etc.),key events can trigger inflection points in these patterns, such as alife event change. One example could be a new job, where a user may beopen to a new coffee shop or eatery. Another example could be in thecase of an upcoming, or recent, birth of a baby, where ampleopportunities for new and different kinds of purchases could bepresented.

In one embodiment, immediate social signatures and historical socialstatistics are used to authorize the actions of the user of acommunication device. For instance, the user's known locations (home,work, church, banks), activities (working, shopping, exercising,socializing), driving routes, online activity, calendars, timeschedules, and patterns are computed to authorize the immediateundertakings (transactions, physical access, data access,communications) of the user.

Moreover, in this embodiment, certain sensors can provide data fordirect identification of the user (for example via image recognition,video recognition, audio recognition, etc.) of the user. In yet anotheraspect, certain sensors can provide continuity characteristic data foridentification of the user (for example via travel routes, dailyactivities, etc. of the user.

By way of example, a user may leave home or work with the communicationdevice, drive along a familiar route, and arrive at a bankinginstitution with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). After initiating amanual action with the ATM, such as inserting a banking card, a linkbetween the ATM network and the communication network supporting theuser's communication device can be used to provide validation of theuser's identification based on direct and/or continuity characteristicdata.

A social signature can be indicative of a different type of activity.Events occur when certain motion, location, acoustic and opticalcriteria are satisfied. For instance, when a location signature hasmoved to a known room in a house such as a home nursery, the motionsignature is static, the optical information indicates a dim room andthe acoustic information indicates rhythmic breathing, the socialsignature is that of the mobile phone user and baby napping. From theidentified social signature, the calculating logic 150 selects thesocial template which is used by the system to select how muchinformation is provided to a category of communicant hoping to accessthe mobile phone user. The social template would then be programmed toreduce the information to be transmitted based upon user-definedrelationships and levels of access.

For instance, where the social signature is that of the mobile phoneuser and baby napping, the social template is fordo-not-disturb-due-to-Mother-and-baby-sleeping could be selected.Examples of the social signature and social hierarchy are set forth inTables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1 do-not-disturb-due-to-Mother-and-baby-sleeping social signatureSensor Value range Location 39.78° N, 104.88° W ± 5 m Inertial   0 m/s²± .2 m/s² Optical  223 lm ± 15 lm Acoustic −63 db ± 5 db

TABLE 2 do-not-disturb-due-to-Mother-and-baby-sleeping social hierarchySocial Hierarchy Information First Social Hierarchy Provide informationLevel - Father on location, duration of state, and estimate of babysleep time Second Social Provide information Hierarchy Level - on babysleeping Friend Third Social Hierarchy Do not disturb Level - School,Work except in emergency Fourth Social Hierarchy Do not disturb Level -Strangers

In this example, assuming that the location sensor 110 senses thelocation is at 39.78° N, 104.88° W, the inertial sensor 120 senses noacceleration, the optical sensor 130 senses a light value of 223 Im, andthe acoustic sensor 140 senses a sound level of −63 db, the calculatinglogic 150 uses the created social signature to determine which of thesocial templates 165 included in the memory 160, is the correspondingsocial template which can classifydo-not-disturb-due-to-Mother-and-baby-sleeping. The selected socialsignature is then applied against requests for communication eitherusing the calculating logic 150 within the mobile device, or on a serverthrough which such communication must be routed.

Assuming the communication is from the Father, the social templatestructured to classify the Father in the First Social Hierarchy Level,and allow the Father to know that the mobile device 100 of the Mother iswith the baby, the location, for how long, and who is napping (bothMother and Baby or Baby only). In this way, the social template used bythe system's classifier provides a high level of information to theFather so that the Father can make an informed choice about whether toplace the call, or to instead send an email or text.

Assuming the communication is from the neighbor, the social template isstructured to classify the neighbor in a Second Social Hierarchy Leveland less information is to be provided. In this case, the socialtemplate used by the system's classifier indicates the Baby is sleeping,so that the neighbor or friend can make an informed choice about whetherto place the call, or to instead send an email or text, but withoutbeing given as much detail as to the location and duration of the socialsignature.

Assuming the communication is from the office, the social template isstructured to classify the office in the Third Social Hierarchy Leveland even less information is to be provided but with specificinformation about when the call would be welcomed. In this case, thesocial template used by the system's classifier indicates that themobile phone user does not want to be disturbed, except in an emergency.Thus, when an emergency call is to be made from the school or office,the caller will know that the mobile phone user is available andwelcomes such calls. Alternately, where there is no emergency, thecaller can make an informed choice about whether to place the call, orto instead send an email or text, but without being given any detailbeyond being told to only call in limited circumstance. Thus, anemployee would know that the employer would not welcome a routine call,but would be available should an emergency arise.

Assuming the communication is from a stranger, the social template isstructured to classify the stranger in a Fourth Social Hierarchy Leveland indicate only that the caller is not to be disturbed. While notrequired in all aspects, the social template could be used by the systemto direct any such calls straight into a voice mail to block receptionentirely.

However, it is understood that the social hierarchy level could bechanged for each social template. For instance, assuming that the Motheris accorded the First Social Hierarchy Level in most social templates,there may be times when the Father does not want the locationinformation to be provided. For instance, assuming the Father ispurchasing a gift, the social template could be created to not providethe location information to the Mother (either specifically or to allFirst Social Hierarchy Level members) in certain locations, and thuscreate exceptions to the level of information provided in the same orother social templates. Thus, while categories of social hierarchylevels can be established, exceptions can be programmed according to theneeds of the end user.

As such, each social template can be set up with varying levels ofgranularity in so far as who is given which information about the userof the mobile device 100 prior to the call being placed. However, inorder to ensure that the social template is accurate, the mobile device100 includes a social training program 167 stored within the memory 160.Using the social training program 167, the user can save particular setsof social signatures as new social templates' training sets, or increasethe accuracy of an existing social template training set using thesocial signature. While described in terms of four social hierarchylevels, it is understood that additional or fewer levels can beprovided, depending on the social template or through user training aswill be described below.

Using the above example in relation to the Mother and the Baby, in orderto set up the social template in the first instance, the Mother wouldactivate the social training program 167 while in the nursery with theBaby, and the social signature would be associated with that particularsocial template. Specifically, the data sensed by the location sensor110, the inertial sensor 120, the optical sensor 130, and the acousticsensor 140 would be correlated with the new social template, and theMother would then enter the degrees of information to be provided tovarious categories of potential callers (i.e., Father, Friend, Neighbor,Office, School, Stranger, etc.). Subsequently, should a caller be giventhe wrong amounts of information, the Mother could again activate thesocial training program 167 to improve the classification of socialsignatures by one or more social templates. In this manner, each socialtemplate could be associated with more than one set of social signaturesso as to allow for variations from the original detected socialsignature and to improve the functionality of the mobile device 100.

Once the mobile device 100 assigns the social template associated withthe current social signature, the assigned social template is sent to anexternal server within the mobile network of the caller. As such, whenthe caller attempts to contact the mobile device 100, the caller isgiven the information according to the hierarchical socialclassifications prior to contacting the mobile device 100.

Additionally, the mobile device 100 consistently monitors for a changein the social signature, such as where the mobile device 100 changeslocation or detects a change in the optical or acoustic levels. At thispoint, the mobile device 100 will determine whether the social signatureindicates a change in the currently assigned social template, or whetheranother social template is to be assigned. Using the above example,where the social signature indicates that the baby is now awake andcrying, the social template would be changed to allow information on thenew status of the baby, but likely maintain a do-not-disturb socialtemplate.

While described in the context of the mobile device 100 having thesocial templates and social training performed internally, in anotherembodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the social templates andsocial training is performed externally. As shown, a mobile device 200monitors location, acceleration, orientation, audio and optical samplesusing a location sensor and processor 210, a motion sensor and processor220, an optical sensor and processor 230, and an acoustic sensor andprocessor 240 included in the mobile device 200. The location sensor andprocessor 210 performs generally the same function as the locationsensor 110 and location processor 115 of FIG. 1, the motion sensor andprocessor 220 performs generally the same function as the inertialsensor 120 and motion processor 125 of FIG. 1, the optical sensor andprocessor 230 performs generally the same function as the optical sensor130 and optical processor 135 of FIG. 1, and the acoustic sensor andprocessor 240 performs generally the same function as the acousticsensor 140 and acoustic processor 145 of FIG. 1. A calculating logic 250receives the processed data from the location sensor and processor 210,the motion sensor and processor 220, the optical sensor and processor230, and the acoustic sensor and processor 240, and transmits theprocessed data to a server 270 using a transceiver 280 via a network260.

While not required in all aspects, the network 260 can be a wirelesscommunication network such as a CDMA, GSM, or like mobile communicationprotocols.

The processed data received at the server 270 is classified using one ormore social templates stored in a memory included in a remotecalculating logic 275 of the server 270. The remote calculating logic275 provides information conditionally based on the result ofclassification to a requesting caller via the network 260 according to ahierarchical social classification. In this manner, the assignment andtraining of the social templates according to social signatures isperformed externally at the server 270 instead of within the mobiledevice 200. The assigned social template is maintained in a server (suchas the server 270) through which the caller must access to reach themobile device 200. As such, when the caller attempts to contact themobile device 200, the caller is given the information according to thehierarchical social classifications prior to contacting the mobiledevice 200.

However, it is understood that, while shown as lacking the capability ofproviding the hierarchical social classification within the mobiledevice 200, the mobile device 200 could also have this capabilitylocally within the mobile device 200 so as to have an internal andexternal capability of selectively providing information according tothe hierarchical social classification incorporated in the socialtemplates.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for a method of social monitoringusing sensors in accordance an embodiment of the present invention. Inoperation 300, the sensor data is sampled by the calculating logic 150,250. In the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, calculating logic 150, 250detects the data from the location processor 115, 210, the motionprocessor 125, 220, the optical processor 135, 230, and the acousticprocessor 145, 240. The sampling can be performed at preset intervals,or continuously.

In operation 305, the data samples detected by the calculating logic150, 250 are formatted into social signatures so that the data can beclassified using one or more social templates. In operation 310, wherethe mobile device is not performing a classification of the socialsignatures with social templates, such as in the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, the calculating logic 250 sends the formatted data to the server270 across the network 260. However, it is understood that operation 310need not be performed in all aspects of the invention, such as where themobile device 100 of FIG. 1 is being used.

In operation 315, the formatted data is indexed to a subset of socialtemplates. In operation 320, the calculating logic 150 or the remotecalculating logic 275 makes an a priori assignment of one of the socialtemplates to the formatted data. This a priori classification is basedupon a closest correspondence between the social signature in theformatted data and the social signature or signatures associated witheach social template.

The calculating logic 150 or the remote calculating logic 275 detects aclassification error in operation 325. Since the social signature in theformatted data and the social signature or signatures associated witheach social template may not be within a range of correspondence, thisdifference is a classification error. Conversely, where there thesignature is within a range of correspondence, there is noclassification error.

By way of example, assuming the mobile device user is at a movie, thelocation sensor 110 detects the location as that of the movie theatre,and the inertial sensor 120 indicates no movement. Further, the mobiledevice 100 might include a near field communication (NFC) device whichdetects that the mobile device 100 was used to purchase a ticket to amovie, and the movie start time. The mobile device 100 might alsoinclude a clock which detects that the start time has passed, but theoptical sensor 130 determines that the movie theater lights are bright.In contrast, for the social signature associated with a social templatefor watching a movie, the optical sensor could be for low light, butalso include the movie theater location, no acceleration, time beingafter the start time, and the ticket data from the NFC device. In thisinstance, the social signature in the formatted data would include anumber of matching elements (i.e., location, acceleration, time, and NFCdata) which are consistent with the social signature associated with asocial template for watching a movie, but the error would exist inrelation to the optical data. Thus, in operation 320, the a prioriclassification would be the social template for watching the movie, andthe classification error in operation 325 would be in relation to theoptical data being high as opposed to low.

Where there is a classification error, a training update can beoptionally performed in operation 330. If the training update is to beperformed, the classification error weighting is updated or the socialsignature is matched to a new social template created by the user inoperation 335. According to an aspect of the invention, where there isthe classification error such that the training update is needed, theuser might be prompted to confirm that the a priori classification isaccurate. If the a priori classification is accurate, the classificationweights are updated in operation 335 for that particular social templateto ensure that the social signature in the formatted data is recognizedin the future as being classifiable by the same social template. Incontrast, where the a priori classification is not accurate, a newsocial template can be created. In this manner, the social templates areconstantly refined. The updated classification weighting and/or templatefrom operation 335 is stored in the memory 160 or in the server 270.

Using the above example in relation to the social template for watchinga movie, the same social template for watching a movie could have anupdated error weighting in relation to the relative importance of thelighting, and thus would be associated with more social signatures. Incontrast, the user might create a new social template, such as a socialtemplate for waiting to watch a movie in which the user would allow morecommunication.

While not required in all aspects, such updated error weights and newsocial templates could be generated solely in relation to the user ofthe mobile device 100, 200, or could also be shared from other mobiledevices. In this manner, the social templates could be unique to theuser, or be refined through the collective experience of any number ofother user experiences.

While not required in all aspects, the training and updating inoperations 330, 335 could be performed using Fuzzy Adaptive Resonance,Learning Vector Quantization, or other techniques whereby acomputational device learns from detected errors in order to improvefuture reactions to like sensor inputs.

Where there is no training to be performed (such as where there is noclassification error or where the classification error is de minimis),the calculating logic 150 or the remote calculating logic 275 detectswhether there has been a communication request to the mobile device 100,200 in operation 340. Where there is no communication request, theprocess returns to operation 300 to determine if the social signaturehas changed.

Where there is a communication request, the calculating logic 150 or theremote calculating logic 275 compares the requestor with the accesslevel assigned to the requestor contained in the selected socialtemplate in operation 345. In operation 350, the information levelassigned to the requestor is provided to the requestor prior tocommunication being completed in order for the requestor to determine,based upon the information provided, whether the communication should becompleted or whether the mobile device user would not appreciate thecall. After reporting the information, the process returns to operation300 to determine if the social signature has changed.

While described in the context of voice communications, it is understoodthat the social templates could also be used by the system to preventother forms of communication, such as text messages, social networkupdates, emails, instant messages, or other like communications whichcan be distracting to a user of a mobile device. By way of example, thecreated social signature might correspond to a user driving a car with aBluetooth headset. In this case the social template might be used to bythe system to provide information to the sender that the user is drivingand is not available to read the text message, but should instead becontacted using a voice communication.

Moreover, it is understood that aspects of the invention do not requirea communication request to provide the differing levels of informationsuch that operation 340 is optional. By way of example, in aspects ofthe invention, the social template can be used by the system to log inand send or update specific information to one or more social networkingservices and/or microblogs. The social template can also include datawhich specifies how the information resultant from a successfulclassification of a social signature using the social template should beused, as well as any necessary log in and username information needed toauthorize the social networking services and/or microblogs to receivesuch updates. While not required in all aspects, a detected biometricwould be useful in ensuring that the proper account is accessed.

In this manner, the device 100, 200 could chronicle a user's status, andcould provide different updates to different social networking services.For instance, a user in a coffee shop might want to update their socialnetworking site (such as FACEBOOK) to indicate to users that they are atthe coffee shop. Where the user has more than one social networkingsite, the user might not want this information on a professionnetworking site (such as LINKED-IN). Conversely, where the user is in awork related activity, such as at a conference, the social templatecould be configured to provide the same or different updates on thesocial and professional networking sites. A similar chronicle of theuser's status could be provided on TWITTER or other microblog site. Inthis way, the device 100, 200 would be able to provide constant feedsand updates to automatically enliven a user's social and professionalnetworking site(s) and/or issue microblogs such as tweets according to astatus sensed from the various device sensors 110, 120, 130, 140.

In aspects of the invention, even where a user does not have a socialnetworking service and/or microblog set up, the social template could beconfigured and used by the system to provide specific information usingtext, email and/or voice messaging. By way of example, the socialtemplate could be designated for emergency situations, and used by thesystem to automatically provide information to the police, firedepartment, family and/or friends. Such communication could be throughtext messages, emails, computer read messages sent to a voice line, and,where social networking and/or microblog services are set up, throughupdates to such services. In this way, the device 100, 200 would be ableto summon help in an emergency situation according to a status sensedfrom the various device sensors 110, 120, 130, 140.

By way of example, the device sensors 110, 120, 130, 140 could detect asharp audio sound and a sudden deceleration, and the calculating logic150, 275 could detect the social signature as being for a car crash.From the social signature for the car crash, the calculating logic 150,275 would select a social template which can successfully classify thesocial signature and which conditionally provides information on thetime since impact and location of impact to the police and ambulanceservices, as well as providing an alert to family and/or friends.

By way of another example, the device sensors 110, 120, 130, 140 coulddetect heat and an optical/acoustic signature consistent with a fire,and the calculating logic 150, 275 could detect the social signature asbeing for a fire. From the social signature for the fire, thecalculating logic 150, 275 would select a social template which cansuccessfully classify the social signature and which conditionallyprovides information on the likelihood and/or location of a fire to thepolice and fire department, as well as providing an alert to familyand/or friends.

By way of a further example, the device sensors 110, 120, 130, 140 coulddetect a sudden change in breathing signatures as well as a change in auser's pulse indicative of a heart attack, and the calculating logic150, 275 could create a social signature for a medical emergency. Fromthe social signature for the medical emergency, the calculating logic150, 275 would select a social template which can successfully classifythe social signature and which conditionally provides information on thetype and/or location of a medical emergency to emergency services and/orthe fire department, as well as providing an alert to family and/orfriends.

While described in terms of a mobile device, it is understood thataspects of the invention need not be limited to a device that can becarried by a user. For instance, the device could be mounted to a movingvehicle and thus not be carried by a user. Further, aspects need not beused in a device which is mobile; for instance, where the device is in aroom and observes sensor inputs that change, as in a security system orother system which utilizes sensors.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyconfiguration of the system may be used for various purposes accordingto the particular implementation. The control logic or softwareimplementing the present invention can be stored in main memory, massstorage device, or other storage medium locally or remotely accessibleto processor.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that thesystem, method, and process described herein can be implemented assoftware stored in main memory or read only memory and executed byprocessor. This control logic or software may also be resident on anarticle of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein and being readable bythe mass storage device and for causing the processor to operate inaccordance with the methods and teachings herein.

The present invention may also be embodied in a handheld or portabledevice containing a subset of the computer hardware components describedabove. For example, the handheld device may be configured to containonly the bus, the processor and memory. The handheld device may also beconfigured to include a set of buttons or input signaling componentswith which a user may select from a set of available options. Thehandheld device may also be configured to include an output apparatussuch as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or display element matrix fordisplaying information to a user of the handheld device. Conventionalmethods may be used to implement such a handheld device. Theimplementation of the present invention for such a device would beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art given the disclosure of thepresent invention as provided herein. Additionally, the device may insome embodiments be non-portable while still capable of fulfillingaspects of the invention.

The present invention may also be embodied in a special purposeappliance including a subset of the computer hardware componentsdescribed above. For example, the appliance may include a processor, adata storage device, a bus, and memory, and only rudimentarycommunications mechanisms, such as a small touch-screen that permits theuser to communicate in a basic manner with the device. In general, themore special-purpose the device is, the fewer of the elements need bepresent for the device to function. In some devices, communications withthe user may be through a touch-based screen, or similar mechanism.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyconfiguration of the system may be used for various purposes accordingto the particular implementation. The control logic or softwareimplementing the present invention can be stored on any machine-readablemedium locally or remotely accessible to a processor. A machine-readablemedium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information ina form readable by a machine (e.g. a computer). For example, a machinereadable medium includes read-only memory (ROM), random access memory(RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memorydevices, electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of propagatedsignals (e.g. carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.).

While the terms used throughout the foregoing specification should beclear and unambiguous to those of ordinary skill in the art, for theavoidance of doubt the term “offer information” should be understoodwithin the context of this specification to mean data describing one ormore opportunities for consideration, including but not limited to oneor more opportunities for purchases or sales; one or more suggestions orrecommendations; one or more opportunities for introductions; one ormore coupons to be used for products or services; one or morenotifications of discounts or sales, etc. The term “sensor data” shouldbe understood within the context of this specification to mean physicaland/or usage information which has been measured, sampled, synthesizedor stored; although the term “sensor data” is used for convenience, itis understood that the data source need not be a literal sensor. Theterm “social signature” should be understood within the context of thisspecification to mean information which may include but should not beconsidered limited to formats, values, properties, representationsand/or control information of “sensor data”. The term “processing”should be understood within the context of this specification to referto the application of one or more mathematical arithmetical operationsincluding but not limited to fixed-point, floating-point, real-valued,complex-valued, logical, multiplication, addition, circular buffers,look-up tables, etc. The term “social statistic” should be understoodwithin the context of this specification to mean a representation of oneor more properties of a collection of processed or stored sensor data.The term “classification” should be understood within the context ofthis specification to refer to the application of one or more algorithmsincluding but not limited to Fast Fourier transform (FFT), finiteimpulse response (FIR) filter, Infinite impulse response (IIR) filter,adaptive filters such as the Wiener or Kalman filters, Neural Networks,statistical, probabilistic algorithms, etc. The term “social template”should be understood within the context of this specification to referto a set of classification parameters and information for processing ofsocial signatures and/or social statistics. The term “social signatureof social template” should be understood within the context of thisspecification to refer to a relationship between social signatures andsocial templates. The term “environment” should be understood within thecontext of this specification to refer to a set conditions orsurroundings containing detectable information. The term “purchase”should be understood within the context of this specification to includeany receipt of goods and/or services, including but not limited toliteral purchases, rentals, loans, or free gifts. It is understood thatthe use of the term “individual” in the context of identification is notlimited to a person, but instead can refer to animals, items, machines,and other single entities. The term “suggestion” should be understoodwithin the context of this specification to mean implanting, in themind, information so as to influence actions and/or thoughts.

The detailed description of embodiments of the invention makes referenceto the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similarelements, showing by way of illustration specific embodiments ofpracticing the invention. Description of these embodiments is insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. One skilled in the art understands that other embodiments maybe utilized and that logical, mechanical, electrical, functional andother changes may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. The above detailed description is, therefore, not tobe taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention isdefined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made theretowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention, asset forth in the appended claims and their equivalents. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing suggestions, comprising:receiving information associated with at least one communication device,wherein the received information comprises sensor data associated withan environment of a communication device, wherein the sensor data iscollected using one or more sensors; monitoring the activity associatedwith an individual; creating one or more social statistics based uponthe monitoring; determining one or more suggestion opportunities basedupon the received information and one or more social statistics; andperforming one or more operations based upon the one or more suggestionopportunities, wherein the one or more operations comprises one or moresuggestions.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningone or more suggestion opportunities is a purchasing location; andwherein the one or more suggestions is an available purchase based onthe purchasing location.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining one or more suggestion opportunities is a purchaseexperience; and wherein the one or more suggestions is an availablepurchase based on the purchase experience.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining one or more suggestion opportunities isa user interacting with a purchaser; and wherein the one or moresuggestions is an available purchase based on the interaction with apurchaser.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received informationcomprises a map.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creatinga social signature from the received information; determining which of asocial template from one or more templates has the greatestcorrespondence with the social signature; and providing one or moresuggestions to one or more recipients based on the determined socialtemplate.
 7. method of claim 1, further comprising: determining which ofa social template from one or more templates has the greatestcorrespondence with the monitored activity and the received information;and providing one or more suggestions to one or more recipients based onthe determined social template.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: using the determined social template as a filter to filteroffer information.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining which of a social template from one or more templates hasthe greatest correspondence with the monitored activity; providing oneor more suggestions to one or more recipients based on the determinedsocial template; and wherein the monitored activity is at least oneselected from the group consisting of: a retail transaction, a financialtransaction, location, purchasing experience, purchases, purchasingdata, and probabilistic movement of the communication device.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more social statistics furthercomprise at least one selected from the group consisting of: biometrics,purchasing data, user activity, application data, user locations,associated times, computer data, login records, local network signals,ranging data, wireless signals, user's pattern of inputting data, lifepatterns, habits, travel patterns, usage data, user name, passwords,light in the environment of the communication device, time, data, soundin the environment of the communication device, and active deviceapplications.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoringassociated with the individual occurs periodically, with event triggers,continuously, according to determined thresholds, or any combinationsthereof.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the received informationcomprises information from sources other than, or in addition to, thecommunication device.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreoperations further comprises supplying information, wherein the suppliedinformation is one of a coupon, an offer, information, sales item, map,route, options, menu item, an available purchase based on a purchasinglocation, an available purchase based on a purchase experience, anavailable purchase based on a purchase interaction, or any combinationthereof.
 14. An apparatus to provide suggestions comprising: atransceiver that receives information associated with at least onecommunication device, wherein the received information comprises sensordata associated with an environment of a communication device, whereinthe sensor data is collected using one or more sensors; one or moreprocessors which monitor the activity associated with an individual,create one or more social statistics based upon the monitoring,determine one or more suggestion opportunities based upon the receivedinformation and one or more social statistics, and perform one or moreoperations based upon the one or more suggestion opportunities, whereinthe operations comprises one or more suggestions; and a memoryassociated with the one or more processors.
 15. The apparatus of claim14, wherein the monitoring associated with the individual occursperiodically, with event triggers, continuously, according to determinedthresholds, or any combinations thereof.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the one or more social statistics further comprise at least oneselected from the group consisting of: biometrics, purchasing data, useractivity, application data, user locations, associated times, computerdata, login records, local network signals, ranging data, wirelesssignals, user's pattern of inputting data, life patterns, habits, travelpatterns, usage data, user name, passwords, light in the environment ofthe communication device, time, data, sound in the environment of thecommunication device, and active device applications.
 17. The apparatusof claim 14, wherein the one or more sensors is at least one selectedfrom the group consisting of: motion sensor, sound, camera, microphone,optical sensor, location, acceleration, angle, audio, biometrics,physiological, respiration, capacitance, density, displacement,distance, electric current, chemical, electric potential, energy, force,facial, finger print, gravity, gyroscopic, inertial, infrared, handgeometry, heart rate, humidity, imaging, level, linear acceleration,light, moisture, magnetic field, navigation, ranging, orientation,photon, position, presence, radiation, radio, retina, speed, thermal,pressure, vector rotation, proximity, voice, speech patterns, phoneme,subatomic particles, temperature, user input, ultrasound, ultraviolet,ultra wideband, usage, vibration, and video.
 18. The apparatus of claim14, further comprising: determining one or more suggestion opportunitiesis a purchasing location, a purchase experience, a user interacting witha purchaser, or any combinations thereof; and wherein the one or moresuggestions is an available purchase based on the purchasing location,an available purchase based on the purchase experience, an availablepurchase based on the interaction with a purchaser, or any combinationsthereof.
 19. A method for providing suggestions, comprising: collectingsensor data associated with an environment of a communication device;transmitting information to a server based on the collected sensor data;receiving one or more operations from the server based upon: one or moreprocessors which monitor the activity associated with an individual,create one or more social statistics based upon the monitoring,determine one or more suggestion opportunities based upon the receivedinformation from the device and one or more social statistics; andwherein the one or more operations comprises one or more suggestions.20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: determining one or moresuggestion opportunities is a purchasing location, a purchaseexperience, a user interacting with a purchaser, or any combinationsthereof; and wherein the one or more suggestions is an availablepurchase based on the purchasing location, an available purchase basedon the purchase experience, an available purchase based on theinteraction with a purchaser, or any combinations thereof.